The following is based on a communication sent by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and another UN expert to the Governments of Kazakhstan and Switzerland on 21 August 2025. The communications remained confidential for 60 days before being made public, giving the Governments time to reply. The Government of Kazakhstan replied on 23 October 2025, and the Government of Switzerland replied on 15 October 2025.
Since the communications were sent, there has been no change in the circumstances.
This is a shorter version of the original communication.
BACKGROUND
Topic: the alleged obstruction of Mr. Amangeldy Shormanbayev’s participation in the UN Human Rights Committee’s review of Kazakhstan’s report in June 2025.
Mr. Amangeldy Shormanbayev is a human rights defender from Kazakhstan and Program Director in Public Foundation “International Legal Initiative” (ILI), a non-governmental organisation, the mission of which is educational and human rights activities that promote public awareness of human rights, their implementation and protection, as well as participation in legislative reforms to promote human rights.
We previously wrote to the Government of Kazakhstan on 12 February 2021 (AL KAZ 3/2021) about prosecution and suspension of ILI’s work and on 16 June 2017 (AL KAZ 2/2017) about its judicial harassment. We acknowledge the replies from the Government dated 14 Aug 2017 and 14 Apr 2021.
The alleged human rights violations in connection with the January 2022 protests, which are mentioned below, were addressed in communications dated 18 January 2022 (AL KAZ 1/2022) and 9 May 2024 (AL KAZ 2/2024). We thank the Government for its responses dated 18 Mar 2022 and 6 Jul 2024.
ALLEGATIONS
Mr. Shormanbayev has spent the past three years working on cases concerning deaths that took place during the January 2022 unrest. According to the information received, he submitted 13 complaints to the UN Human Rights Committee regarding these deaths, alleging that law enforcement authorities failed to conduct effective investigations.
In advance of the Human Rights Committee’s most recent consideration of Kazakhstan’s report, ILI, the NGO he works for, submitted a report which detailed concerns regarding Kazakhstan’s implementation of the right to life, prohibition of torture, the right to a fair trial, freedom of association, and the use of artificial intelligence in the judicial system and law enforcement. One of the key topics of this submission was the actions of the authorities during the January 2022 events.
Mr. Shormanbayev was planning to participate in the session of the Human Rights Committee in Geneva on 23 June to share further information, as well as to attend the review of Kazakhstan’s report on 24-25 June. His trip was allegedly scheduled for 22 June.
On 11 June 2025, he applied for a Swiss visa (application No. CHE-A-008059423), reportedly stating that his purpose was to attend the Human Rights Committee’s session. However, on 18 June, the Swiss Embassy in Astana refused the application, citing that “the information provided regarding the purpose and conditions of the planned stay was not credible.” He allegedly learned of the refusal two days before the departure.
A day before, on 19 June, Mr. Shormanbayev reportedly received a text message on his mobile phone concerning a tax debt. According to a copy of the tax notice, the debt was in the amount of 1.78 KZT, relating to vehicle tax. It has been reported that despite the negligible amount, this debt could have been used as grounds to prevent him from leaving the country. Moreover, even if he had paid the debt immediately upon receiving the notice, it is alleged that the information would not have appeared in the database in time for his departure.
It is also noteworthy that the alleged debt was registered with the State Revenue Office of the Auezov District of the State Revenue Department of Almaty. However, according to the information received, Mr. Shormanbayev has neither resided nor been registered in the Auezov District for more than 20 years.
On 23 June, Mr. Shormanbayev allegedly visited the State Revenue Office to clarify the reason for the tax debt and was reportedly informed that it had been imposed by mistake.
It is alleged that Mr. Shormanbayev was deliberately prevented from attending the Human Rights Committee’s review of Kazakhstan’s report in Geneva to impede his participation in the session and his potential cooperation with United Nations mechanisms. Specifically, the refusal of the visa allegedly resulted from interference by Kazakhstani authorities, and the outstanding tax debt allegedly imposed in error would allegedly have been a deliberate measure to prevent his departure even if a visa had been granted.
According to the information received, at least four other Kazakhstani activists were also denied Swiss visas for attending the same session.
CONCERNS
In the communication, we express our concern regarding the reported obstruction of Mr. Shormanbayev’s participation in the Human Rights Committee’s review of Kazakhstan’s report, including the alleged imposition of a travel-restricting tax debt immediately prior to his departure and alleged interference in the visa issuance process. We are notably concerned that these measures seem deliberate efforts to prevent Mr. Shormanbayev from engaging with United Nations mechanisms and might be directly connected to his human rights defence work and the exercise of his freedom of expression.
